


Despair, Despairing, and oh! Despair

by TheEmoAuthor



Category: Escape the Night (Web Series)
Genre: Brainwashing, Kidnapping, NG Codes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-21
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-09-19 18:44:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17007117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheEmoAuthor/pseuds/TheEmoAuthor
Summary: DespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespairDespair





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ETNMystic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ETNMystic/gifts).



Midterms? Done. Winter break? Finally here. At last, two weeks of free time before a new semester begins.

 

TheEmoAuthor flops her bag down on her bed, then joins it shortly later. 

 

She grabs her computer, turns it on, and immediatley goes to Archiveofourown, like she would normally do. 

 

_Let's see what I missed out on during my break from here._

Hmmm... new chapters in Magic's novelization, a Unofficial ETN Handbook by Adopppp and other co-authors, more additions to the ETN Shipping Handbook, some new questionnaire thing Magic introduced, and even some Safita Fanfiction. There was more of course, but these were just some examples. 

 

But then one story caught her eye, making her stop scrolling and instead take in the words on the title with all the time she had in the world.  

 

"Our Eternity Together" By ETNMystic. Judging by the additional tags, it was obvious Mystic had gotten herself (and the fandom) neck-deep in shit.

 

_Oh no, Mystic, what have you done now?_

She hesitantly clicks on the title, and starts reading. 

 

After a few minutes, she sits back and rubs her eyes in frustration. 

  

_Okay, so this is the situation. The Cursed God wants to send parasites to all the authors in the fandom and get them to join his army, and I'm supposed to spread despair around the world as a propaganda producer? Same as Magic? What the actual f-_

Wait. Bring despair to the world? That sounds way too familiar to a certain villain's dream from another fandom. More specifically, Junko Enoshima.

 

Come to think of it, she remembers post_etn_stress commenting on her story "Don't Give In". What was it? Something about the Cursed God using her as a pathway to corrput more fandoms, since she wrote about ETN and Dangan Ronpa crossovers frequently. 

 

She pulls it up in her inbox and reads it. 

 

"I think that if there are authors that traverse multiple fandoms, the entity might just use them as pathways to corrupt more fandoms in different forms. So I think we should protect other fandoms before it's too late." 

 

_Ahhh. THERE it is. Oh, wait that's not a good thing. Is the Cursed God going to use me to corrupt the DanganRonpa fandom? Especially since I published the first ETN and DanganRonpa crossover. "Punishment Time" is fairly popular too._

Ugh. Can't this fandom ever get a nice day? 

 

And she's still trying to solve the mystery of why a physical being tried to kidnap her on a school night. 

 

And why she can't travel herself to Everlock like the other authors that haven't been corrupted yet. They said in the comments to think about that place, and eventually she would magically transport herself there, and she's trying her dang hardest. don't get her wrong. But it's not working. 

 

Finally, to think she was worrying about her studies while other authors were being corrupted makes her feel like she's slowing down the fandom. 

 

One word to describe this: Despair. Endless despair. 

 

_**I was waiting for you to say that, Emo.** _

__

_What was that?????_

Just as she finished that thought, her vision starts to wobble. She manages to fall off her bed and tries to catch herself in an attempt to stand up, but to no avail. The world around her darkens, and Emo right away understands whats happening to her. She clumsily falls down sprawled on the floor, and she squeezes her eyes shut.

 

The parasites. They got her. 

 

_Try to fight back-away the pain-don't-give-in-....................................._

Her minds shuts down, and everything is silent. 


	2. Enter Enoshima

...................................

_I'm still...me?_

The world comes back into focus, and Emo still feels like herself. However, as colors slowly swirl into objects, she takes in her surroundings and finds out that she's in some sort of a bedroom in a mansion. Shes still wearing her black hoodie with shorts, her hair is still pulled back in a ponytail, and she still has her glasses (thank god, she's practically blind without them) but there's some sort of a weight wrapped around her left wrist. Looking down, she realizes it's actually a black bracelet with a red symbol on it. 

"Welcome to the Danganronpa Universe!" a cheerful voice erupts, and the door swings open. The thing who walks in is...Junko Enoshima? 

 _Yeah, that's_ _definetly her. She still has the same outfit she does from the games, and she has those signature black-and-white bear clips... but how?_

"Yup, that's me!!! I can read your thoughts, I've done sooooo much research on you it's easy to predict what you'll do next!" she chirps. Emo collects herself to keep herself from screaming at the top of her lungs and instead her eyes expand to the size of Mars. 

"For example, your favorite character is a tie between Kirigiri and Genocider, you're pretty young compared to the other authors on the Archive, and you lie to your friends at school about your favorite color for no reason whatsoever, " she continues. The Fashionista blabbers on, listing fact after fact. 

"So," she finally stops her rant sits down on the bed and swings one leg over the other, "How do you like my home?" 

"Uh..." Emo is at a lost for words. "It's beautiful." And she wasn't lying, it was gorgeous.

_Weeby Newz was right. She really does live in a mansion! But if I'm really in the Danganronpa Universe, how come she's still alive?_

"Oh, the Diva of Despair never dies. I actually survived my execution, but hey, that's a secret for another time. Anyways, how come you aren't suspicious of how you aren't some propaganda producer?" 

Emo has no clue exactly HOW much she knows about her, so for now she'll assume she knows everything and keep a cool composure.  

"A-Actually, I have no idea. Did... you save me?" 

"Yeah! I did!" she beams at her, like she's expecting a "thank you" but Emo doesn't get it. She sighs in dissapointment and continues talking. "That bracelet," she gestures to the black one on her wrist, "contains the parasites. It's actually an NG Code Bracelet, but I repurposed it just for that. So you're safe for now!" 

_Oh right, the anime with the Forbidden Actions._

"Of course, with just a push of this button, the parasites will be injected right back into you, and you'll turn into a despair-inducing propaganda producer in the DanganRonpa universe for The Cursed God, and you don't want that, do you?" Her much more ecstatic personality was replaced with a much more serious one, as she pulled out a black remote control with a Monokuma-shaped button. "Just do as I say, and that will never happen. Okay, Emo?"  

"Yes?" 

"Perfect! Here are the rules.  

1\. You are free to roam the mansion as much as you'd like. 

2\. If I catch you trying to escape the mansion, I'll push this handy-dandy remote, and the parasites will be injected into you. 

3\. Any attempt to remove the bracelet and being caught will result in the parasites being injected. 

4\. Any act of violence to me or Ikusaba will result in the parasites.

5\. I can add additional rules at any time, so don't get smart." 

"Wait, Ikusaba is here!?"

"Yeah! She's the one who took you out and brought you to me! She actually survived her execution too! Come here and greet Emo Ikusaba!" 

_I honestly don't know what to believe anymore._

"Hey," the Ultimate Soldier greets her, suddenly appearing at the door. Emo awkwardly waves back. 

"I'm a nice person, so I'll let you ask me any question you want before you settle in to your new home, and I'll answer truthfully! I swear on Despair!" Junko proposes.

  _Er, I better make this count._

"Tell me your plan," she bluntly states. 

"What?" Junko blinks slowly in surprise. 

"Tell me your WHOLE plan. There's a reason you're keeping me captive." 

"Oh, riiight. You see, since you published the first ETN and Danganronpa crossover, I was able to gain access to you and establish a special connection. I then learned about your situation in your fandom, and I saw that as a way to restart the Tragedy. So then I sent my sister to kidnap you. But you weren't possessed yet, so you wouldn't be any use."

_Ohhh, that explains why a physical being was sent to me. It was Ikusaba!_

"Ya, so anyways, I took a sample of the parasite and is currently experimenting on it, so I can create a formula that will get you to work for me, not the Cursed God. Once I create a successful formula, I'll use it to build my own army, then send my soldiers to kidnap all the other authors in the ETN fandom. Then, I'll spread despair to all fandoms possible!" 

"Oh my god, so I'm basically your lab rat?" 

"Meh." 

_Shit. This is bad, this is really bad. Enoshima's going to make a Tragedy 2.0, and I'm the reason it started!_

"Scream all you want," Ikusaba's cold voice filled the room. "No one will hear you. Because..." 

She signals for Emo to look out the window, and she hesitantly obeys. 

There's no ground. The mansion was in the sky, running on who knows what. 

_I'm going to be here for a while._


	3. Welcome to Hell

Emo's been living in the mansion for a few days, and it's already hell. 

 

It's uneasy living with two murderers who have complete control over you, and that they could give you any task to you, and you would have to do it, or else. Well, they haven't done anything bad yet, but it just adds to the suspense. 

 

Not to mention that she's caught Enoshima trying to murder her own sister multiple times. 

 

Just this morning, as she was making pancakes (if she's going to live with a rich fashionista, might as well make the most of it) she was the unlucky witness of Enoshima engaging in a knifefight with Ikusaba. 

 

The sisters clash knives over and over, and they've been going at it for a while now. About 10 whole minutes. Somehow, neither of them are showing any signs of being tired.  

 

"You can never kill me, Freckles!"  

 

"Hyah! AHH!"

 

_I should leave before they have any chance to drag me in this._

The author quickly stacks 2 pancakes, grabs a bottle of syrup, and heads to her room. Screams of pain and victory slowly tune out once she closes her door. After double checking to ensure it's locked, she plops on her bed and digs in.  

 

The pancakes actually tasted really good. Way better than the one's she makes. If the rest of the house is like this, maybe she could adapt. 

 

A quote from Celestia Ludenberg enters her mind: " _Survival is not based on who is the strongest or the smartest. It comes down to who can adapt."_

 

If Celestia was able to keep herself alive from that for a while, then maybe Emo could too. And who knows, maybe a chance to exit this mansion might pop out sooner or later.  

 

**A Week Later**

Nothing's happened. Enoshima and Ikusaba continue on living like things are normal, like Emo never came into the house. They still talk, eat, try to kill each other. It's like Emo never came into her lives.

 

_No, they're definetly hiding something. There's no way Enoshima's hasn't been making any progress on her plan in the course of a week._

That's it. Tonight, Emo's going to get some answers. 

 

As nighttime arrives, Emo sneaks out of her bed and tiptoes her way downstairs. It's a long flight of stairs, but by now she's used to walking such long distances. 

 

As she nears the first floor, she notices a green brightness coming from the kitchen. She decides to go investigate it more. 

 

She stays at the staircase, ready to run if Enoshima sees her. She peeps out. Neither her or Ikusaba is there. 

 

She then proceeds to stealthliy make her way to the green lighting, grabbing a knife from an open drawer and holding it tight, just in case. Well, she probably doesn't stand a chance against a psychopath and a soldier, but she's not going down without a fight.

 

And then she sees it. 

 

"Ooohhh! This one should work!" Enoshima says, pulling out a beaker with some purple substance in it. She was sporting a lab coat, gloves, and goggles.

 

"Enoshima, we tried that one a million times." Ikusaba replies. She too, donned the same outfit. 

 

_They're trying to change up the parasite with that sample they extracted from me, aren't they?_

Going back to the Despair Sisters experiment, Enoshima doesn't listen to her sister and pours it in the large beaker anyways, no doubt the one carrying the sample. It produces a large puff of smoke, exploding from the beaker and covering the whole kitchen in purple. 

 

As one would expect, the two react differently. Enoshima giggles while Ikusaba rolls her eyes in annoyance. 

 

"We aren't going to get anywhere if this continues," Ikusaba complains. 

 

She then proceeds to pour a clear solution into the beaker. The purple dissappears, changing the whole things back to the sample of parasites. "We only have so much of this reverse fluid." 

 

_Reverse fluid?_

Ugh, nevermind that. As long as they keep on failing, Emo should be fine. So as she tiptoes her way up the stairs, she just HAS to trip over the stairs. 

 

_Damnit, I'm such a klutz._

"What was that noise?" Enoshima says. Footsteps then come her way, and Emo panics. She gets up and sprints to her room in a fury of fear, but she's too late. Junko, being older, taller, and no doubt faster, has her hands on Emo's shoulders the second she's at her door. 

 

"Just what were you doing?" she snarks at the shorter girl. 

 

_Shit._


	4. In Which I Get Rescued By An Assassin

Emo finds herself in the mansion's basement, tied to some chair. Enoshima and Ikusaba peer over her, and when they notice her waking up, they seem to go right into hyper mode. 

 

"Oh! Good! You're awake!" Junko claims, ecstatic. 

 

Emo struggles against her ropes, but it's no use. They were simply too good, whatever knots they used. 

 

"W-What are you going to do to me?" she squeaks. 

 

_You dumbass, what do you think? They're probably going to punish you or something. If someone was spying on you in the middle of the night, what would you do to them if you had the power?_

"WHAT? No, No! We are NOT punishing you! You never broke any rules, otherwise your bracelet would've been activated! That's no bueno!" the Fashionista replies. 

 

_Oh, right. You can still read my mind._

"Meh, it's not exactly reading your mind, but we can call it that if you want." 

 

Ikusaba shrugs in compliance. Emo sighs in defeat. 

 

_Then what are you going to do to me?_

"We are... testing out the new parasite formula!!!" Junko beams. Ikusaba takes out a huge syringe, showing no expression as she does so. It looks like it could be used on an elephant, with how big it was.

 

"That's right! We finally found a way to alter the parasites! All we need to do now is inject it into you, and you'll be at our side faster than you can say 'Despair Devil!'"

 

The color drains from Emo's face as she fully understands her situation. 

 

"Aww, don't be scared. No, for real. It hurts less than it looks." Junko coos. When Emo raises her eyebrow in confusion, she then laughs. 

 

"Just kidding! I was lying! It's going to hurt real bad. Ikusaba, finish her already!" 

 

The Soldier moves towards Emo in swift strides, syringe pointed right at her neck. Sweat forms on her face as Emo tries to think a way out of this. However, no matter how much she racks her brain, nothing smart comes to mind. 

 

_Is this where it all ends?_

The needle was now right at her neck. Ikusaba proceeds to press the needle into her skin, drawing a small amount of blood. 

 

Just as she places her finger on the button and is about to press it, the ceiling breaks, alarming all three girls. 

 

Enoshima, who looked like she was eating popcorn (she actually was, Emo couldn't see for sure) drops her bowl and looks up, just in time for a shorter figure to crash right on top of her. 

 

Upon closer inspection, she realizes that it was... Maki Harukawa? 

 

Yeah, that HAD to be her. She was wearing the exact same outfit from the games, and she was holding a crossbow. 

 

A second later, two more figures enter the basement through the now damaged ceiling. It was Akane Owari and Peko Pekoyama! 

 

Ikusaba leaves Emo, dropping the syringe and tries to attack Harukawa. The Assassin effortlessly dodges and shoots a poisoned arrow at Ikusaba. Enoshima throws Harukawa off of her, and Owari rushes to help her,starting a fight with the Despair Sisters. Meanwhile, Pekoyama comes to Emo and swings her sword at the ropes, freeing Emo. 

 

_Omigod, I just got rescued by Peko, Akane, and Maki. Could this day get any weirder?_

 

"Thank you so much, Pekoyama." The Swordswoman looks at her with a surprised look on her face. 

 

"How do you know my name?" 

 

"Uh," Emo remembers that she's from a different universe. "I'll explain later. But... I can trust you guys right?" 

 

"Of course. Naegi sent us here to rescue you. Apparently you're supposed to help us end the Tragedy 2.0. But we can talk later, when you aren't in danger of being killed." 

 

"Y-yeah..." 

 

And so more fighting commences. Pekoyama and Ikusaba duel with their weapons, from apparently Ikuasaba produced a knife out of nowhere. It seems like Harukawa and Owari managed to knock out Junko, and then Owari smashed Ikusaba in the back of her head, knocking her out as well. 

 

With both Despair Sisters unconscious, they were free to leave. Pekoyama grabs Emo and literally leaps out of the basement with ease. 

 

"Let's get you to HeadQuarters," Peko explains. "There's a lot you need to know."


	5. So... Many... Waifus

"Okay, how about you start?" Pekoyama says. Owari was sleeping on a very annoyed Harukawa, who hasn't said a word during the whole trip. They were being transported to wherever HeadQuarters was, in a helicopter being piloted by Kazuichi. 

 

Emo had no clue where to start. After an awkward silence between the two, she finally explains herself. 

 

"You see, it all started when my universe, the Escape the Night-" 

 

"-fandom?" Pekoyama finishes her sentence. Emo looks up at the taller girl and nods suspiciously.

 

"We know everything. The situation with it, The Cursed God, ETNMystic, the parasites, everything. We've done our research." 

 

"Oh. That makes things a lot easier then." 

 

"Yup. Keep on going, we only have so much time." 

 

"Right. Sorry. Okay, so when I got here, Enoshima revealed to me that she was keeping me captive so that she could keep an eye on me while she experimented on the parasites. She was trying to find a way to get them to work for her when injected into the authors. Then you guys saved me, but I still have my NG Code." 

 

Emo shows her bracelet to Pekoyama, and immediately her eyes go wide. 

 

"Oh no! Once Enoshima finds out, she'll be on the hunt for you, no doubt. We need to find a way to get rid of that." 

 

Harukawa leans forward to where Kazuichi is sitting, making Owari fall down, instantly making her wake up from her nap. 

 

"Listen, Kazuichi, is it possible for you to  _hurry the fuck up?_ We need to find out what to do with Emo's NG Code." 

 

The Mechanic smiles his classic grin, flashing his pointy teeth. "Of course!" 

 

They zoom towards wherever HeadQuarters is, and Emo wonders if it was something really cool out of the movies or something more sinister. 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

 

As it turns out, The "HeadQuarters" was just a really fancy looking hotel. Multiple stories, expensive decor, and really nice vibes overall.

 

Tokyo, as it appeared, looked normal. Emo guesses that the Tragedy is now long gone and that the city returned to normal. That's what she would go with, because she didn't have the heart to ask anyone about it, knowing how despair-inducing it was.

 

But then she remembered Junko's plan and feels sorry for everything. 

 

As they landed on the rooftop of the whole structure, Peko grabs Emo and the four students give a nod to each other. Emo fears some shit is about to go down. 

 

Kazuichi takes out a walkie-talkie and whispers something in it. As soon as he pulls it away, an area in the roof literally opens up, and Naegi is right inside. 

 

"How did the rescue mission go?" is his way of greeting everyone. 

 

"It was a success. We got Emo, but we need to find out what to do with her NG Code. We can't take it off, that's obvious." 

 

Emo presents her bracelet to Naegi, and the taller boy nods with understanding, no doubt having memories come back. 

 

"Come inside. Welcome to your new home for a long time."

 

As the students file inside whatever that opening is, Emo asks Pekoyama if she could explain exactly how they got to find out about her fandom's problem. 

 

Pekoyama replies in a sincere voice. "I'm sorry, we have special sources who wish to remain anonymous." 

 

_What is that supposed to mean?_

The opening leads to a spiraling staircase, with very little lighting. Naegi leads the line, with Harukawa, Kazuichi, and Owari following between the two. Pekoyama and Emo walk next to each other. 

 

The staircase ends at a dark brown door. Naegi grips the handle firmly, turns it, and pulls it back. 

 

Everyone rushes in. Greeting them was.... even more characters? 

 

They were all here. The survivors from the first and third game, everyone from the second game (except Nanami for obvious reasons) and even Komaru. Emo wants tobe on Fangirl Mode so bad right now, but she knows that now's not the time for that.

 

Asahina greets Emo right away. "Hi! I'm Aoi Asahina! I -" 

 

"I know who you are." The swimmer blinks in confusion. 

 

"Huh?" 

 

"I know who all of you are. I can explain!" 

 

"Okay, but hurry up. We need to discuss what to do with your NG Bracelet, and fast." 

 

At the mention of the NG Code, Asahina's eyes light up. She opens her mouth to speak, but Harukawa silences her. 

 

"Let Emo speak. I'm not wrong when I say that we all want to know how she knows us?" 

 

The room mutters in agreement. 

 

Emo sits down on the couch and starts narrating. 

 

"In my universe, there's video games based off...."


	6. Contacting Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is super short but more will be added later I promise

  "...aand that's how I know you guys." Emo finishes her explanation, and she expects the room to burst out in laughter.  

  Saionji speaks up first. "So, we were in a video game? That's kind of cool." 

  "Yeah." Everyone looks at who spoke in such a rough voice, and it turned out to be Hinata. "Nanami would've been happy." 

  A cold silence fills the room at the mention of the Gamer. 

  Nevermind breaks the silence. "Um, on a happier note, we managed to contact the SAE using Yumeno's magic and Kazuichi's mechanic skills. It was actually a voicemail, but it should still work." 

  This grabs Emo's attention. "What did you tell them?" 

  "We told them that we had you, you should be safe until they find a way to come here, or a way for you to get back, and hopefully by then we can also eliminate Enoshima and her sister once and for all." 

 "Hmm... well, I really don't have a better plan, so that sounds good. Now, what about my NG Code?" 

  And just like that, the room was back on Protective Mode. 

  "Can't Enoshima use that to track her?" 

  "Yeah, so if we don't get rid of that, we're screwed." 

  "Anyone got any bright ideas?" 

  "U-um," someone stammers, and whoever spoke that turned out to be Mikan Tsumiki. "I-I have a i-i-idea." 

  "It better be good!" Saionji spits in her face. 

  "Well, I w-was thinking t-that w-w-we c-could m-m-m-m-m-maybe...." the Nurse trails off. 

  "Spit it out already!" pouts Saionji. Zoizumi puts a hand on the Dancer's shoulders, trying to calm her down. 

  "....c-cut your hand o-o-o-of?" 


End file.
